Method for permanently waving multicolored hair



United States Patent 3,441,031 METHOD FOR PERMANENTLY WAVING MULTICOLORED HAIR Janet 0. Thompson, 1218 Gateway Lane, West Chester, Pa. 19380 No Drawing. Filed Mar. 31, 1966, Ser. No. 538,972 Int. Cl. A45d 7/00 U.S. Cl. 132-7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Partially bleached hair is effectively permanently waved without damage by wetting it with mild permanent waving solution, winding it on rollers, lightly rewetting it with the mild solution to saturate the bleached portion, but not the unbleached, then, while the hair is still wet, applying to it a normal permanent waving solution, and finally rinsing and neutralizing it after a suitable time. The way the solutions are applied enables the curling process to proceed thereafter at the same rate in both the bleached and unbleached portions of the hair.

The present invention relates to a method for permanently waving multicolored hair and more particularly to permanently waving hair that has been partially dye-d or bleached.

The invention is particularly applicable to the process of permanently waving hair with chemical softening agents. In this process hair is wound into the desired configuration on rods or the like before application of the chemical solution which softens and places the wound hair into condition to be permanently waved. Different methods have been utilized in the past to fix the curls in the hair including the application of heat electrically or with heat generative chemicals. The preferred method known as cold waving is to apply a second chemical solution to neutralize the waving solution and to fix the hair into its new configuration. This cold waving process has particular applicability with respect to this invention but it is to be understood that the applicant does not hereby intend to be limited to such method and that other methods for permanently waving hair with chemical solutions are included within the scope of this invention.

When human hair has been bleached or dyed or otherwise treated, the hair undergoes a chemical change, generally weakening the resistance of the hair and making it porous and hence more absorbable.

Any reference in the specification to bleached hair or partially bleached hair is intended to include hair that has been bleached, dyed, tinted or otherwise treated so as to effect a change in the structure of the hair. It will be recognized that bleaching, dyeing and tinting are all cases where the color of the hair to which the bleach or other treatment has been applied has had its color artificially changed. Because of this change in the character of the hair, it has been necessary to provide two types of chemical permanent waving solutions, one for normal hair and one for such bleached or dyed hair.

Because of the porosity of bleached hair as compared to normal hair, a normal waving solution for normal hair cannot be applied to bleached hair as it is too concentrated for the hair and would damage it causing it to break. Thus milder or special permanent waving solutions that are less active than normal waving solutions have been developed by the cosmetic industry especially for use on bleached hair. These solutions are essentially the same as waving solutions for normal hair and have been formulated so as to act on the bleached hair at approximately the same rate that normal waving solutions will act on normal hair. Thus, these special or mild so- 3,441,031 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 lutions which have been developed are suitable for waving artificially color-changed hair without damage thereto. However, because of their low concentrations, these special or mild waving solutions have no effect on natural or normal hair.

In recent times it has become the fashion to partially bleach or dye the hair leaving some areas of the hair in a natural color and state. This is commonly referred to as frosting, streaking or tipping the hair wherein only selected strands of the hair have been dyed or bleached. Thus, in such hair there are color-changed components and there are naturally colored components, and the hair is hair only part of which has had its color artificially changed. A dilemma has been created with respect to the permanent waving of such hair, as it has variable resistance to waving solutions, the hair being more resistant in the unbleached or undyed areas. Any reference to frosted hair is intended to include all types of hair that have been partially dyed or bleached. Such frosting can be accomplished by any of the methods well known in the art of haircoloring such as by the aluminum foil or cap method wherein selected strands in selected areas of the hair are partially dyed or bleached to achieve a multicolored effect.

A normal waving solution for normal hair cannot be used on frosted hair as this would be too strong for the bleached strands of hair and would damage them. On the other hand, the solutions prepared specially for bleached hair are not strong enough to act on the normal areas of the hair and are only effective on the bleached areas. Because of this, it has been the practice with frosted hair to use a special waving solution on the hair letting the unaffected natural hair merely follow the wave that is set into the bleached strands of the hair. However, this has proved rather unsatisfactory for very little of the hair is actually permanently waved.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a method for permanently waving multicolored or frosted hair that has been partially bleached or dyed in order to achieve a permanent waving of all of the hair.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for waving partially bleached or dyed hair that allows all of the hair to curl at the same rate.

It is another object of this invention to provide a methed for waving partially bleached or dyed hair that is not injurious to the bleached sections of the hair.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for waving partially bleached or dyed hair that utilizes readily available and commercially acceptable permanent waving solutions.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for waving partially bleached or dyed hair in which both normal and special waving solutions are used in combination with each other to achieve a waving of all of the hair.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for waving frosted hair that comprises first applying a special waving solution for waving the bleached sections of the hair and subsequently applying a normal waving solution for waving the normal hair without first removing the special waving solution and Without causing damage to the bleached sections of the hair.

These and other objects will become more apparent from the following description of the invention wherein normal waving solution refers to waving solutions for normal hair and special or mild waving solution to waving solutions for bleached hair.

The permanent waving of hair to alter its physical form or shape is essentially a chemical reaction between the hair and a reducing agent more commonly referred to as a waving solution. The solution softens and swells the hair by rupturing or converting the disulfide bonds of the keratin in the hair into sulphydryl groups. The reduction is reversible and is continued until an oxidation reaction is caused to set in either by application of heat or chemical solutions. This is more commonly referred to as fixing the hair and is in essence a rebuilding of the disulfide bonds in the hair in its desired configuration. The subsequent oxidation is generally carried out by applying an oxidizing agent, or neutralizer to the hair after it has been softened to the desired extent by the Waving solution.

The reaction of the hair to a waving solution is essentially the same whether the hair is natural or bleached. However, if the hair is bleached, a normal waving solution will react with the hair at too fast a rate, reducing it beyond a point where the disulfide bonds can be safely rebuilt back into the hair. Hence milder or special Waving solutions have been formulated for bleached hair and are designed to react with the hair at about the same rate as normal waving solutions react on natural hair. However, when hair has been frosted or partially bleached, an application of a normal waving solution to the hair will curl the bleached areas too fast as described above, and on the other hand a special solution while reacting with the bleached areas will react, if at all, with the natural hair at too slow a rate.

The objects of this invention have been accomplished by applicants discovery that a special waving solution for bleached hair will, upon saturation of the bleached sections of frosted hair, provide a protective barrier for the bleached hair preventing it from being damaged or injured by a subsequent application of a normal waving solution needed to curl the remaining unbleached areas of the hair.

In a typical procedure for permanently waving hair, the hair is first Washed and then split up into certain blocks or sections of the head as is well known to those skilled in the art. The proper waving solution depending on whether the hair is normal or bleached is then selected as described above. The solution is applied to a limited amount or hank of the hair and then wound up on a mandrel or rod to form a curl. This is repeated until all of the hair has been wound up in curls and then each curl is normally rewet in a curled condition with more of the waving solution. This rewetting makes sure the hair is saturated and insures that enough waving solution has been applied so that the proper amount of softening will occur in order to achieve the desired curl. The hair in an unwound condition will normally not be capable of holding enough solution to achieve the desired curl. The amount of curl achieved is directly proportional with the amount of time the waving solution is allowed to react with the hair and hence test curls are taken periodically thereafter until the desired degree of softness has been reached. A limit of about thirty minutes is usually given as the maximum length of time the waving solution should be permitted to remain on normal hair as further reaction may cause permanent damage. Upon reaching the desired degree of reaction, the entire hair is then rinsed immediately in water while still wound and then the oxidizing agent or neutralizing solution is applied to the wound hair to fix the hair into its new configuration and to remove any residual waving solution remaining on the hair after rinsing. This standard procedure for permanently waving is practically the same whether the hair is bleached or unbleached, a waving solution of different concentration merely being used in each case.

By the process of this invention, both bleached and unbleached areas of frosted hair can be permanently waved. This process utilizes the conventional normal and special waving solutions readily available but applies them in a unique manner according to the objects of this invention in order to achieve a permanent waving of frosted hair. Some permanent chemical waving solutions that can be utilized in the present invention including special and 4 normal are manufactured under the following US. patents: 2,564,722; 2,577,710 and 2,736,323.

The process, similar to that described above, consists essentially in first applying a special waving solution in the conventional manner up to and including the step wherein the hair is wound on mandrels or rods. The special waving solution is then very lightly reapplied to the curled hair in comparison with the amount that would be applied in a normal rewetting operation in the conventional process described above.

It is important at this stage in the process of this invention that enough special waving solution be applied so as to penetrate and saturate the bleached sections of the hair with the waving solution in order to be able to achieve the desired softening effect on the bleached sections of the hair. Enough is also needed to provide a protective barrier around such bleached hair to protect it from the subsequent application of the normal waving solution. However, too much of this Waving solution will begin to saturate the less porous normal hair areas which will binder and slow down the rate of curl of that hair by the action of the normal waving solution that is to be subsequently applied.

Sometimes the initial application of the mild waving solution prior to winding is suflicient but in the majority of cases the hair cannot hold enough in an unwound condition to achieve the desired curl and hence the wound hair must be rewet with the mild waving solution. It has been discovered though that a normal rewetting operation with a special waving solution on frosted hair, while not waving the normal hair, will hinder the subsequent action of the normal solution. Hence, as stated above, the curled hair according to the process of this invention should be rewet only very lightly and nevertheless only enough so that the bleached sections of the hair will be saturated with the solution.

Subsequently a normal hair waving solution is then applied to the same curls, this waving solution softens and curls the normal areas of the hair without causing damage to the bleached sections of the hair now protected by the special waving solution. Because these solutions have been formulated to curl different types of hair at approximately the same rate and because they are applied to frosted hair in this unique manner so as only to act on their respective types, both areas of the hair will soften and curl at about the same rate of speed. This is necessary in order for the hair to be properly curled since if the bleached areas soften and curl at a faster rate of speed there would not be a uniformity in all sections of the hair. Test curls are taken periodically until the hair shows the desired curl strength. Thus, it will be seen that all of the hair will soften and curl to substantially the same degree in the same time period to a time when the hair has reached the desired state. When the desired curl strength has been reached, the hair is rinsed and then a second chemical rinse or neutralizer is applied to fix the hair into the desired configuration. The neutralizer or oxidizer applied is the same regardless of whether the waving solution is normal or special.

By way of illustration of waving solutions applicable to this invention, the following specific examples of cold waving procedures are given:

EXAMPLE 1 A special permanent waving solution manufactured by Rayette, Inc. and commonly referred to as Rayette Color Tress, Formula A, manufactured under US. Patent No. 2,564,722 was applied to frosted hair, and then the hair was wrapped or rolled upon rods. The hair was then only slightly rewet in curled condition to insure saturation of the bleached areas of the hair with the special waving solution. The curled hair was then resaturated with a normal permanent waving solution manufactured by Rayette, Inc. and commonly referred to as Rayette Mellow Wave also manufactured under the above referred to patent.

The waving solutions were allowed to remain on the hair for six minutes after which time the hair was rinsed with water and a neutralizer was applied and left on the hair for approximately ten minutes to fix the curl in the hair. The hair was again rinsed, the rods then removed and the permanent curl in all sections of the hair was found to be very good without damage to any areas of the hair.

EXAMPLE 2 The same procedure in Example 1 was carried out on frosted hair that was exceptionally resistant to waving solutions and in this example the same waving solutions were allowed to remain on the hair for a period of 16 minutes after application of the normal waving solution. The curl in all sections of the hair was again found to be very good with no damage to the bleached areas of the hair.

EXAMPLE 3 In another example similar to Example 1, a special permanent waving solution manufactured by Cosmair Inc. and more commonly referred to as White Velvet Conditioning Cream Wave for tinted or pastel hair was applied to frosted hair. After rolling the hair on curls and rewetting the curls slightly with the special solution to saturate the bleached sections of the hair, the hair was again resaturated with the same manufacturers conventional White Velvet Conditioning Cream Wave for normal hair. In this case the waving solutions were rinsed out of the curls with water after six minutes and then neutralized for approximately minutes to fix the curl. After a final rinse and removal of the curling rods, all of the hair was found to have a homogeneous and very good curl with no damage occurring in any sections of the hair.

While I have referred specifically to the waving of hair, it is to be understood that with this invention it is possible to permanently alter or reform the shape or configuration of partially bleached hair into any desired form. Thus the invention contemplates the reverse of Waving such as dekinking, removal of curls or waves, imparting of creases or the like. The waving solutions may be applied to the hair at any desired time either before or after winding provided they are applied in the proper sequence as described above, However, the preferred process of this invention is to apply the normal solution only after the hair has been wound and properly saturated with all of the special or mild waving solution.

Thus by the process of this invention, both the bleached and unbleached sections of the hair can be softened by the action of their respective waving solutions without damage to any of the hair and since each solution works only on a portion of the hair, both areas of the hair will curl at the same rate of speed. The waving of frosted hair can be accomplished using conventional special and normal waving solutions now readily available without requiring the preparation of a special waving solution for such multicolored or frosted hair.

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method for damage-free permanent waving of particular hair, which hair includes both artificially colorchanged and naturally colored hair components, which method includes as parts of the method both the step of imparting the desired configuration to the particular hair in question, including both of such hair components, and also the steps of treating the hair over a period of time by first applying to the particular hair in question, includin g both of such hair components, a mild waving solution sufficiently to saturate the artificially color-changed components without saturating the naturally colored components, and then applying a normal waving solution to the very same hair that is already wet with the mild solution, including both of such hair components, to soften the naturally colored components, so that all of the hair being thus treated will soften at approximately the same rate, and then fixing the configuration of this same hair.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the hair is wound on mandrels in the desired configuration at a time which at least is before the application of the normal waving solution, and the application of the normal waving solution is such as to saturate the naturally colored components of the hair.

3. A method according to claim 2, in which at least some of the mild waving solution is applied after the winding, although before the application of the normal waving solution.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the hair thus treated is fixed in the desired configuration by the application of a neutralizing solution.

5. A method for permanently waving hair only part of which has had its color changed artificially, without damage to said hair from said waving, which comprises, applying a mild waving solution suitable for waving the colorchanged components of said hair without damage thereto to all the hair to be waved in order to soften said colorchanged components of said hair, winding all said hair to be waved about rods to form the desired curls, slightly rewetting all said hair to be waved with a mild solution to insure saturation of said color-changed components of said hair, subsequently, while said color-changed components are still saturated, applying to all the wound hair a normal waving solution to soften the naturally colored components of said hair without damaging the colorchanged components, so that all of said hair will soften and curl to substantially the same degree in the same time period to a time when the hair has reached the desired state, then rinsing all said hair to be waved to remove the Waving solution and then applying neutralizer thereto to fix the curl.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,724,303 8/1929 Nessler 132-7 2,061,709 11/1936 Malone 1327 F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner.

GREGORY E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner. 

